Los Angeles Lakers: Andrew Bynum and Magic Johnson Create an Awkward Situation

This isn't the first time Magic Johnson has publicly vied for Dwight Howard, and it probably won't be the last unless D12 puts on a Lakers uniform really soon.

If you took a poll around Los Angeles, Magic is probably more important to the city than some of the actual sports-franchises of the city.

When Magic speaks or shall we say, tweets, the fans in and out of Los Angeles listen.

"@DwightHoward would be the final piece to make the @Lakers a championship team for a long time," was a direct tweet from Magic on Thursday morning.

Inquiring minds would like to know this: If Howard never becomes a part of the Lakers organization, how do statements like these affect the relationship between Andrew Bynum and Magic?

Maybe it's all leading up to something, but there's tension in that room right now. 

Of course they aren't necessarily teammates, but Magic is very much a part of the Lakers for life. It seems odd that he continues to openly court Howard as if Bynum were Kwame Brown.

This was a recent tweet, but there are a handful of times Magic has been on TNT during pre, half and post-game shows saying these same types of things referring to Howard in comparison of Bynum.

 Howard is a helluva player, but the Lakers already have a seven-footer that is going to be 25 in October and was a starter for the West All-Star team.

Basketball pundits and fans have completely dissected the Howard versus Bynum argument for some time now, and the realities of the two have seemingly become clear. This trade idea seems to be about marketing and the fact that it is simply available.

And the availability factor leans more so in favor of Orlando. 

When were the Lakers shopping Bynum because he simply didn't want to be there and was on his way to free agency?

This is going on a three-year fiasco in Orlando with Howard, and a lot of people feel sorry for the Magic right now.

They're probably better off without him. 

No disrespect to Howard, but as it is always said, the NBA is a business, and the Magic should've dumped him off to Golden State last year, and he could simply have played the year out and signed with the Nets this coming Wednesday.

Howard didn't want to be the "bad guy," and for some, that's where it is now.

The basketball reality is simple when comparing Bynum to D12, and Magic is Hollywood cool with his latest appeal via Twitter.

Respectively, in comparison of their games, Bynum doesn't have the defense of Howard, and that is vice-versa on offense.

The health factor consists of Bynum and those bad knees, while Howard's back hopefully just needs rest.

The maturity level of Howard is being questioned with his demands and in LA, it's no different with Bynum and his mellow but unpredictably-agitated attitude.

What this trade seems to be about is the marketability of Howard in the years after Kobe Bryant and not solely off adding or taking talent away from the Lakers roster right now for championship purposes.

Bynum at center for the Lakers is more than fine—ask Kobe.

Oh wait. Bryant hasn't really spoken a word of want for D12, which is actually saying a lot.

Remember a few years back when Bryant wanted Jason Kidd for Bynum? Kobe let it be known, and we all knew. 

Again, though, Los Angeles is Hollywood, and the NBA, again, is a business. If ad revenue and the Lakers roster in the years to come are really the reasons there is preference to D12 over Bynum, then that is fine.

Just please stop feeding the ideology that Howard is unusually superior to Bynum on the court.

That's simply not true, and a politically-correct, locker-room savvy veteran in Magic, should know that. 

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